An Input Method Editor (IME) is a program that allows you to enter Asian text in programs by converting your keystrokes into Asian characters. The IME interprets your keystrokes as characters, then gives you the opportunity to insert the correct interpretation into the program you're working in.

The Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, and Korean language versions of Microsoft Office each come with the IMEs for that language. If you are using a different language version of Microsoft Office, you can download the IME you want from the Microsoft Office Online Web site. IMEs are also available in the Microsoft Office 2003 Proofing Tools.

Once you have installed the IME, you can access it from the Language bar that appears by default in the upper-right corner of the screen in any Office program.

Note  If you used what was referred to as a Global IME with a previous version of Office, it will not work with Microsoft Office 2003. You need to download the updated version from the Web.